In talking about the possibility of becoming a sixth man for the upcoming season, his 21st, Nowitzki recounted the cyber chat like this:

"Obviously, the last couple years, I've played more at the [center position]," the 40-year-old Nowitzki said. "Jokingly, I told DeAndre that, the way the foot is healing, you're going to have to fight for your starting spot. I texted him that two, three weeks ago. He was just laughing.

"I'm not sure what that meant."

What it meant was that Jordan gets Nowitzki's sense of humor.

Nowitzki knows that the Mavericks are transitioning to a younger team with new stars. His prime was awesome. But this is a team that has to find a new identity with Dennis Smith Jr., Harrison Barnes, Luka Doncic and Jordan.

That said, Nowitzki isn't sure what role he will have this season. The time seems right to have him coming off the bench. But with that strategy comes challenges.

"Obviously, DeAndre's going to be our starter at the five position and the rest will just kind of fall in place after that," Nowitzki said. "If [Barnes] goes back to the four or we start other ways, I have no idea as of yet. But it's a great problem to have. We want to be a franchise that is back in the playoffs and plays well and has fun again."

In the last couple seasons, Nowitzki has played well with Devin Harris and J.J. Barea and logically it makes sense for him to help anchor that second unit.

Will Dirk Nowitzki's ankle be 100 percent in time for the regular season?

And he's certainly open to the idea of coming off the bench.

"I've always said the last few years, if it makes our team better -- I want to be part of a winning team and if that's what helps us win -- then of course," Nowitzki said. "I have no problem with that. I already told [the training staff] if that's the case, they better keep me loose. We better get a [stationary] bike ready somewhere because if I warm up and sit for 15, 20 minutes, that's going to be an issue."

This all will come down to Rick Carlisle, of course.

The coach has been dead set against Nowitzki coming off the bench for years. However, that could change.

All that matters to Carlisle this year is winning as many games as possible. And you can bank on the fact that he'll do whatever is best to produce winning results.

"Hey, if that's the role, and we play great with it, then I'm all for it," he Nowitzki said. "But that's what camp is for -- to see what works, who works best with each other. So I don't think we necessarily need to answer that question now. But it's definitely something to look at as we go deeper into camp."

Nowitzki is coming off ankle surgery and recovering from that has dominated his offseason. His charity tennis tournament is Saturday morning and he has stepped on the tennis court just once this summer. Pros Andy Roddick, Mark Knowles, Tommy Haas and others will be at the event at SMU's tennis complex.

Nowitzki only recently stepped on the basketball court for a scrimmage with his teammates. His repaired left foot came out of those five-on-five games with lukewarm results.

"The ankle where I had the surgery is actually great," he said. "There were two bone spurs that kind of blocked me from doing things. So they took those out and now there's a lot more movement in the ankle. But all the tendons aren't used to moving that much now. Every now and then, it's a little stiff. I scrimmaged a little last week and on Monday and it hasn't really reacted amazing to it. But we're positive that it'll be fine. By the time we get into camp and especially the regular season, I'll be 100 percent."

Regardless of what role he has, Nowitzki figures to play between 20-24 minutes per game. That's not radically different from last season.

Carlisle has said that Nowitzki is like a "vintage" car, and has to be cared for accordingly.

That will be the case throughout the season, regardless of whether he's starting or going for sixth man of the year.